Althea Stevens writes: For the first few weeks of my stay here I slept in a small tent but now one of our bandas at Emau has been rebuilt and I've moved into that for now. Tukae built three of these bamboo and palm leaf thatch buildings a year ago as accommodation for our volunteers, but they have since been partially consumed by bugs that like to eat bamboo.

The new banda is a clever construction, made of bamboo tensioned with nylon rope and roofed with makuti palm. The guys who built it are getting good at the job as this is the fourth time they've tackled it and half a dozen more of us spent a while learning the two knots needed for the framework - trucker's hitch and bow line - so that we can help with rebuilding the next two. I am pretty sure that I can do both which is very handy as I'm supposed to be supervising the work and making sure it's completed!

The little tent I was in was a bit cramped and I was getting really hot in it so I'm glad to be in the banda as I can move around and spread myself for a month or so. I will have to move back into the small tent in January I expect, when we have nine volunteers coming here. I'm not sure if they are all going to teach, but it should be an interesting and very busy time. That's a lot of people to have here - we'll need a timesheet for showers!